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It’s been nearly a year since @therevolution performed three incredible, emotional shows at @firstavenue in tribute to Prince. This weekend, the band is returning one last time to the building where they recorded “Purple Rain” and filmed their breakout movie, following up their performance at Saturday’s Rock the Garden with a show in the First Avenue Mainroom. “Playing there was always important,” Prince & the Revolution drummer Bobby Z told the Star Tribune last year. “It became his marquee, and it still is today.” Everyone knows that First Avenue is the club Prince made famous. What’s interesting to remember is that Prince and the Revolution only played in the venue a handful of times, with each show making a huge impact.

Their debut performance as a band happened on the First Avenue stage on August 3, 1983. It was Wendy Melvoin’s first show with the band, and the first time they played the now-iconic songs from the Purple Rain album. Thanks to the positioning of a recording truck outside, edited versions of the songs “Baby, I’m a Star,” “I Would Die 4 U,” and “Purple Rain” that they played that night would end up on the record.

By the next time they played a public show at First Avenue, Prince and the Revolution were about to introduce the venue to the world. They took the stage for a show on Prince’s birthday on June 7, 1984, celebrating the impending release of the album and movie that they’d spent the previous eight months capturing at First Avenue and other locations. Then they came back again that August, riding high on the success of the film, and again in October 1984, when an aftershow spilled over into the neighboring 7th St. Entry.

After that, Prince and the Revolution would only play First Avenue together one more time: On August 3, 1986, as a warm-up show for their Parade Tour.

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Hey guys, I apologize for a slight delay in posting this. Thank you for your patience .... We have a day and time update, which might work out for those of you having weekends off .... Monthly Prince Dance Party is moving to a Friday night. Start time 10pm. Kicking off Friday January 27th 10pm at Clubhouse Jager. Feel free to share and tell your friends. See you there and let's funk 💜#freeurself#love4oneanother#prince#purple#mplsound

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#PrinceHistory: On September 6, 1999, @prince played in a rare outdoor show in downtown Minneapolis for the short-lived Mill City Festival, joining a lineup of other hometown acts like @morris_day_and_the_time , @alexander_oneal_official , @thejayhawksofficial and Willie and the Bumblebees. “Thank you very much, hometown,” Prince told the crowd of thousands who pressed into downtown to see him perform. “This is not Woodstock — this is Thrill City.” As a treat for his adoring Minneapolis audience, he mixed in plenty of fan favorites like “Let’s Go Crazy,” “Kiss,” “Delirious,” and “U Got the Look,” in addition to newer songs like his spin on Sheryl Crow’s “Everyday is a Winding Road.” “His partner, @maytejannell , danced, and guest Maceo Parker sat in on saxophone,” reported Jon Bream in the @startribune . “Prince testified about Jesus before playing ‘The Cross.’ He had thousands singing along to a powerful rendition of ‘Purple Rain’ a mere two blocks away from where he filmed much of the movie of the same name. In short, Prince made Mill City into a hometown happening.” #Prince#PaisleyPark#MPLSound#MPLS

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On May 8, 2007, Prince gave a press conference in London to announce that he was about to attempt a feat of epic proportions: He would perform 21 shows at the O2 Arena in London, breaking the record for the longest and best-selling residency to ever be performed by a single musician.

Few doubted that Prince could pull it off, but what people couldn’t have predicted is that Prince would not only sell out all 21 appearances at the 16,000-person capacity arena, but that he would play for hours each night, changing up the set list and rotating through a list of over 200 songs, and then capping off most evenings by moving into the smaller Indigo2 club to keep the after-party going into the early morning hours.

The 21-show residency would make up the entirety of his European Planet Earth Tour, and fams came to London from across the continent to see Prince perform. As if the shows alone weren’t historic enough, Prince also decided to give away his new album, Planet Earth, for free to everyone attending the shows and for everyone who picked up a copy of The Mail on Sunday newspaper on July 15, 2007. The demand for The Mail that day was so high that the paper distributed 600,000 copies, making it the biggest circulation since Princess Diana’s death.

As some of Prince’s most iconic artifacts find a temporary home at the O2 in London for the “My Name is Prince” exhibition, we want to know: Were you at one of the 21 Nights in London shows? And what do you remember about that rule-breaking, record-setting run of unforgettable performances?

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On May 8, 2007, Prince gave a press conference in London to announce that he was about to attempt a feat of epic proportions: He would perform 21 shows at the O2 Arena in London, breaking the record for the longest and best-selling residency to ever be performed by a single musician.

Few doubted that Prince could pull it off, but what people couldn’t have predicted is that Prince would not only sell out all 21 appearances at the 16,000-person capacity arena, but that he would play for hours each night, changing up the set list and rotating through a list of over 200 songs, and then capping off most evenings by moving into the smaller Indigo2 club to keep the after-party going into the early morning hours.

The 21-show residency would make up the entirety of his European Planet Earth Tour, and fams came to London from across the continent to see Prince perform. As if the shows alone weren’t historic enough, Prince also decided to give away his new album, Planet Earth, for free to everyone attending the shows and for everyone who picked up a copy of The Mail on Sunday newspaper on July 15, 2007. The demand for The Mail that day was so high that the paper distributed 600,000 copies, making it the biggest circulation since Princess Diana’s death.

As some of Prince’s most iconic artifacts find a temporary home at the O2 in London for the “My Name is Prince” exhibition, we want to know: Were you at one of the 21 Nights in London shows? And what do you remember about that rule-breaking, record-setting run of unforgettable performances?

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On May 8, 2007, Prince gave a press conference in London to announce that he was about to attempt a feat of epic proportions: He would perform 21 shows at the O2 Arena in London, breaking the record for the longest and best-selling residency to ever be performed by a single musician.

Few doubted that Prince could pull it off, but what people couldn’t have predicted is that Prince would not only sell out all 21 appearances at the 16,000-person capacity arena, but that he would play for hours each night, changing up the set list and rotating through a list of over 200 songs, and then capping off most evenings by moving into the smaller Indigo2 club to keep the after-party going into the early morning hours.

The 21-show residency would make up the entirety of his European Planet Earth Tour, and fams came to London from across the continent to see Prince perform. As if the shows alone weren’t historic enough, Prince also decided to give away his new album, Planet Earth, for free to everyone attending the shows and for everyone who picked up a copy of The Mail on Sunday newspaper on July 15, 2007. The demand for The Mail that day was so high that the paper distributed 600,000 copies, making it the biggest circulation since Princess Diana’s death.

As some of Prince’s most iconic artifacts find a temporary home at the O2 in London for the “My Name is Prince” exhibition, we want to know: Were you at one of the 21 Nights in London shows? And what do you remember about that rule-breaking, record-setting run of unforgettable performances?

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On May 8, 2007, Prince gave a press conference in London to announce that he was about to attempt a feat of epic proportions: He would perform 21 shows at the O2 Arena in London, breaking the record for the longest and best-selling residency to ever be performed by a single musician.

Few doubted that Prince could pull it off, but what people couldn’t have predicted is that Prince would not only sell out all 21 appearances at the 16,000-person capacity arena, but that he would play for hours each night, changing up the set list and rotating through a list of over 200 songs, and then capping off most evenings by moving into the smaller Indigo2 club to keep the after-party going into the early morning hours.

The 21-show residency would make up the entirety of his European Planet Earth Tour, and fams came to London from across the continent to see Prince perform. As if the shows alone weren’t historic enough, Prince also decided to give away his new album, Planet Earth, for free to everyone attending the shows and for everyone who picked up a copy of The Mail on Sunday newspaper on July 15, 2007. The demand for The Mail that day was so high that the paper distributed 600,000 copies, making it the biggest circulation since Princess Diana’s death.

As some of Prince’s most iconic artifacts find a temporary home at the O2 in London for the “My Name is Prince” exhibition, we want to know: Were you at one of the 21 Nights in London shows? And what do you remember about that rule-breaking, record-setting run of unforgettable performances?

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Between Thursday-Sunday this week, nine bands from across America will be competing in our first-ever battle of the bands event MUSICOLOGY here at @officialpaisleypark . These nine finalists will be following in the footsteps of @Prince and his peers, who would compete in fierce battles and talent shows on the North Side of Minneapolis back in the 1970s, when they were still in high school.

Before he was known as a solo artist, a young Prince Rogers Nelson was making a name for himself as a teen prodigy in the band Grand Central, a band he formed with his best friend @acymone , his cousin, Charles “Chazz” Smith, and André's sister, Linda Anderson.

The group was a formidable force at local talent shows and band battles, and would also show up wherever André and Linda’s mother, Bernadette Anderson, asked them to play: neighborhood gatherings, dances at local high schools, and even the @mnstatefair . “We played at the Fair, we played everywhere,” André told @thecurrent last year. “My mom would have us playing anywhere. She’d have a bunch of friends over for card parties, we’d play anywhere. So if you can imagine — because, you know, Prince became a very big superstar — but my mom would just say, ‘I don’t care what you guys are doing, you guys are going to have to come down to the Elks and we need a band, so you guys are going to play.’” Over the years the band’s lineup would shift, with @morris_day_and_the_time taking over drumming from Chazz, and additional percussionists Terry Jackson (who lived next door to the Andersons) and William “Hollywood” Doughty being added to the group. In this photo, you can see Grand Central’s later incarnation, from left to right: Linda Anderson, Andre Cymone, Morris Day, Terry Jackson, Prince, and William Doughty.#Prince#PaisleyPark#GrandCentral#MPLSound#RealMusicByRealMusicians#Musicology2017

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#Prince#PrinceRogersNelson#2009#Lotusflow3r#MPLSound•🎵Lotusflow3r - Trivia:📌On 2 December 2009, Dreamer was nominated for a Grammy for "Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance"; the first time a Prince track has been nominated for a Grammy without being released as a promo or commercial single (other songs in the category were Beyond Here Lies Nothin' by Bob Dylan, Change In The Weatherby John Fogerty, Fork In The Road by Neil Young, and Working On A Dream by Bruce Springsteen, which won the Grammy).•#💲#Dreamer#Back2TheLotus#Valentina#BetterWithTime#OlSkoolCompany#NoMoreCandy4U•🎵MPLSound - Trivia:📌The next week it sold 2,340 copies, which had it dropping to position 26. On week 5 the record sold 1163 unit and dropped to position 51. On week 6, after a week of promotion in Paris, the record sold 2,896 copies and climbed up to position 25. It also entered the download album charts at position 3, its best position in 6 weeks.•COMMET/SHARE UR STORY BELOW ABOUT UR FAVORITE TRACK OFF THIS ALBUM✌️️💜•#EddySchreyer#QTip •#pop#soul#rock#rhythmandblues#funk#NPGRecords

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#Prince#PrinceRogersNelson#2009#Lotusflow3r#MPLSound•🎵Lotusflow3r - Trivia:📌Feel Better, Feel Good, Feel Wonderful is incorrectly listed as Feel Good, Feel Better, Feel Wonderful on the Target CD packaging. The Lotusflow3r 3CD set sold 168,000 unit in the USA within a week, which granted the album a number 2 position on The Billboard 200 album charts. The French triple pack release, issued on 7 September 2009 sold 3,375 units within a week, which enabled it to enter French charts TOP Album 200 at number 14. •#FromTheLotus#Boom#CrimsonAndClover#TheMorningAfter#4ever#ColonizedMind#FeelBetterFeelGoodFeelWonderful•🎵MPLSound - Trivia:📌Feel Better, Feel Good, Feel Wonderful was also seen on a tracklist for MPLSound as recently as February 2009, indicating it switched albums at a late stage. MPLSound is the second Prince album to contain a remake of a song previously-released on another Prince album. U're Gonna C Me is a re-recorded version of the One Nite Alone... track released in 2002.•COMMET/SHARE UR STORY BELOW ABOUT UR FAVORITE TRACK OFF THIS ALBUM✌️️💜•#TamarDavis#MaceoParker•#pop#soul#rock#rhythmandblues#funk#NPGRecords

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#Prince#PrinceRogersNelson#2009#Lotusflow3r#MPLSound•🎵MPLSound - Trivia:📌MPLSound had its own 'area' on the website Lotusflow3r.com website, containing a download of the album, a video for the song Chocolate Box, and various promotional photos. It appears that 77 Beverly Park was at one point intended for MPLSound, given its mention in the spoken word segment of Ol' Skool Company, which mentions the other MPLSound tracks in their order of appearance on the album.•🎵Lotusflow3r - Trivia:📌The Lotusflow3r.com download version, released 5 days prior to the Target CD version, contained the track The Morning Afterinstead of Crimson And Clover. As a result, no recording credits are available for Crimson And Clover, as credits are only available for the online version of the album. Lotusflow3r had its own 'area' on the lotusflow3r.com website, containing a download of the album, a video for the song Crimson And Clover, various promotional photos, and the video globe commonly marketed as the central feature of the website.•#💲#Dreamer#Back2TheLotus#Valentina#BetterWithTime#OlSkoolCompany#NoMoreCandy4U•🎵Lotusflow3r / 🎵MPLSound - Promotion:📌Prince played an unprecedented three shows in one night at The LA Live Nokia Center with three different bands: The Nokia Theater(with select members of the 3121 band), The Conga Room with Michael B. and Sonny T., and Club Nokia with select members of the One Nite Alone... Tour band. French press advert published in Le Monde to promote the album.•🎵Lotusflow3r - Trivia:📌It appears that 77 Beverly Park was at one point intended for MPLSound, given its mention in the spoken word segment of Ol' Skool Company, which mentions the other MPLSound tracks in their order of appearance on the album. Feel Better, Feel Good, Feel Wonderful was also seen on a tracklist for MPLSound as late as February 2009, indicating it switched albums at a late stage.•COMMET/SHARE UR STORY BELOW ABOUT UR FAVORITE TRACK OFF THIS ALBUM✌️️💜•#MarvaKing#BriaValente•#pop#soul#rock#rhythmandblues#funk#NPGRecords

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#Prince#PrinceRogersNelson#2009#Lotusflow3r#MPLSound•🎵Lotusflow3r - Promotion:📌The album did not produce any singles, but Prince promoted the album with a Target commercial (using the song Dreamer), as well as various TV appearances and one-off shows. There was no full tour to support this album, however. The album reached number 2 on The Billboard 200, and number 1 on both the Billboard Top R&B/Hip Hop Albumschart and the Billboard Independent Albums chart, perhaps due in part to the sale of three CDs together for the low retail price of $11.98.•#TherellNeverBAnotherLikeMe#ChocolateBox#Dance4Me#UreGonnaCMe#Here#LoveLikeJazz#77BeverlyPark#WallOfBerlin•🎵MPLSound - Promotion:📌The album did not produce any singles, but Prince promoted the album with a video for Chocolate Box, as well as various TV appearances and one-off shows. There was no full tour to support this album, however. The album (as part of the 3CD set titled Lotusflow3r) reached number 2 on The Billboard 200, and number 1 on both the Billboard Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart and the Billboard Independent Albums chart, perhaps due in part to the sale of three CDs together for the low retail price of $11.98.•COMMET/SHARE UR STORY BELOW ABOUT UR FAVORITE TRACK OFF THIS ALBUM✌️️💜•#MrHayes#ShelbyJ•#pop#soul#rock#rhythmandblues#funk#NPGRecords

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#Prince#PrinceRogersNelson#2009#Lotusflow3r#MPLSound•🎵MPLSound - Recording process:📌The rest of the tracks (Chocolate Box, Dance 4 Me, Here, Valentina, Better With Time, Ol' Skool Company and No More Candy 4 U) were likely recorded in 2008 or early 2009. Other than a brief rap appearance by Q-Tip on Chocolate Box, all vocals and instruments on the album were performed by Prince.•🎵Lotusflow3r - Recording process:📌Little is known about the recording dates for the album. Prince stated around the time of release that some tracks stem from the sessions for the album 3121. The tracks featuring Michael B. and Sonny T., From The Lotus..., Colonized Mind, Love Like Jazz, Wall Of Berlin and ...Back 2 The Lotus, are likely to be from this time, recorded in late 2005. Some lyrics from ...Back 2 The Lotus are sampled in the track 3121, corroborating this further. •#FromTheLotus#Boom#CrimsonAndClover#TheMorningAfter#4ever#ColonizedMind#FeelBetterFeelGoodFeelWonderful•🎵Lotusflow3r / 🎵MPLSound - Promotion:📌A 30-second Target commercial was filmed and broadcast, with Prince playing a portion of Dreamer as the 3CD set was announced. Prince played three consecutive nights on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno: 25 March 2009, 26 March 2009, and 27 March 2009.•🎵Lotusflow3r - Recording process:📌Additionally, Támar Davis appears on 4ever and Colonized Mind, suggesting they were recorded between 2005 and Summer 2006. A clip of Feel Better, Feel Good, Feel Wonderful was streamed by the NPG Music Club in June 2006, stating it was a work-in-progress, suggesting it was recorded around that time (although the album version is a different recording). Boom, Crimson And Clover, 77 Beverly Park, $ and Dreamerare assumed to have been recorded in 2008, but this is unconfirmed, and some tracks may have been recorded earlier.•COMMET/SHARE UR STORY BELOW ABOUT UR FAVORITE TRACK OFF THIS ALBUM✌️️💜•#CCDunham#JoshuaDunham•#pop#soul#rock#rhythmandblues#funk#NPGRecords

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#Prince#PrinceRogersNelson#2009#Lotusflow3r#MPLSound•🎵Lotusflow3r:📌In November, the album was released on vinyl in France as part of a 2LP package, again also including the MPLSound album. The album's download version contains one alternate track from the CD version. The Morning After is included as the third track on the download, while the CD includes Crimson And Clover in its place. The change has not been explained.•#💲#Dreamer#Back2TheLotus#Valentina#BetterWithTime#OlSkoolCompany#NoMoreCandy4U•🎵MPLSound - Recording process:📌Little is known about recording dates for the album. U're Gonna C Me was first recorded in Spring, 2001, and was originally released on the One Nite Alone... album, but the version included here was re-recorded in 2008 or early 2009. (There'll Never B) Another Like Me is thought to have been recorded in late 2008. •COMMET/SHARE UR STORY BELOW ABOUT UR FAVORITE TRACK OFF THIS ALBUM✌️️💜•#MichaelB#SonnyT•#pop#soul#rock#rhythmandblues#funk#NPGRecords